Gardening Trees, Shrubs & Vines Shrubs 19 Easy-Care Shrubs to Use as Hedge Plants for Outdoor Privacy Plant a hedge with these reliable shrubs to boost outdoor privacy. By Sheryl Geerts Sheryl Geerts Sheryl Geerts is an editor and author who has nearly three decades of writing and editing experience. She enjoys writing about garden, food, and home topics. Her bylines have appeared in Better Homes and Gardens, Allrecipes, Martha Stewart Living, and several other publications. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Updated on January 12, 2024 Reviewed by Joseph Tychonievich Reviewed by Joseph Tychonievich Joseph Tychonievich is a gardening expert with two decades of work in horticulture, the author of three gardening books, and known for his deep knowledge of the science behind techniques for successful gardening. Learn about BHG's Gardening Review Board Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Jerry Pavia Block wind, buffer noise, or create more private outdoor living spaces by planting a row of these easy-care shrubs for hedge plants. They offer a range of textures, loose or dense growth, evergreen or deciduous, and a few even have showy blooms or berries, but all will grow beautifully without requiring much care from you. 18 Deck Privacy Ideas to Create a Secluded Backyard Retreat 01 of 19 Arborvitae Bob Stefko You will almost always find arborvitae on popular hedge plant lists. This upright evergreen has flat sprays of scalelike, aromatic, yellow-green to green foliage. While some types of arborvitae grow as tall, narrow trees, other varieties are more shrublike and rounded in form, so choose carefully depending on the look you want your hedge to have. Name: Thuja selections Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 40 feet tall Zones: 2-8 11 Best Deer Resistant Shrubs for Avoiding Browsing Damage 02 of 19 Boxwood Marty Baldwin Setting the standard for formal clipped hedging plants, boxwood can withstand frequent shearing and shaping into perfect geometric forms. It can also be left unpruned to take its natural shape. This versatile evergreen hedge plant is a popular border plant for formal and informal gardens, or you can use taller varieties to create a dense living wall to block out undesirable views. Name: Buxus selections Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 3 feet tall Zones: 4-9 03 of 19 Dwarf Golden False Cypress Marty Baldwin While Japanese or Sawara false cypress tends to grow into a large tree, there are several dwarf varieties with threadlike, golden foliage and shrubby forms that make excellent evergreen hedge plants. These include 'Filifera Aurea', 'Gold Mop', and 'Sungold', each offering slight variations in foliage color and mature size. Name: Chamaecyparis pisifera f. filifera Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 5 feet tall Zones: 4-8 18 Beautiful Trellis Ideas to Turn Your Yard into a Private Escape 04 of 19 Flowering Quince Justin Hancock Light up the early spring landscape with the scarlet, pink, or white blooms of flowering quince. This deciduous shrub has sharp spines, making it an effective hedging plant or privacy screen. Its flowers are followed by hard, edible, yellowish-green fruits that are delicious in preserves and jellies. Name: Chaenomeles selections Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 10 feet tall Zones: 4-8 05 of 19 Glossy Abelia Denny Schrock Butterflies love the fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers that dangle all summer long from glossy abelia branches. This flowering hedge plant naturally forms a tall arching mound, but you can prune it in late winter to early spring to create a lower hedge. Its dark green leaves turn purplish-bronze in autumn. Name: Abelia x grandiflora Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 6 feet tall Zones: 5-9 7 Ways to Attract Monarch Butterflies to Your Garden 06 of 19 Holly Denny Schrock Many species of holly work well as hedge plants. Smaller hollies, such as yaupon holly, meserve holly, and inkberry (pictured here), are the easiest types to use because they don't require much pruning. Many varieties of holly bear red or orange berries but may require a male pollinator nearby. Some are deciduous, and others, like Japanese holly, are evergreen. Name: Ilex selections Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 50 feet tall Zones: 5-9 07 of 19 Hydrangea Carol Freeman Huge bouquets of hydrangea flowers, which vary from mophead to lacecap types, look stunning from summer to fall. Varieties of hydrangea differ in size, flower shape, color, and bloom time. Know the best time to prune your chosen variety's stems to ensure the best summer blooms. Name: Hydrangea varieties Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 15 feet tall Zones: 3-8 08 of 19 Japanese Euonymus Denny Schrock Create a more interesting landscape by selecting varieties of Japanese euonymus with gold-, cream-, or white-variegated foliage. This fast-growing hedge plant can reach towering heights, but it's easy to prune it back to grow it as a lower hedgeplant. Its greenish-white flowers bloom in late spring, followed by small pink fruits. Name: Euonymus japonicus Growing Conditions: Part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 15 feet tall Zones: 6-9 09 of 19 Juniper William N. Hopkins Among the most versatile evergreens, junipers range from ground-hugging creepers to mounded shrubs and upright trees. Whether you are looking for a steely blue groundcover or a tall tree for a fast-growing privacy hedge, junipers fit the bill. All respond well to pruning, making them useful hedge plants. Name: Juniperus selections Growing Conditions: Full sun in dry to moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 65 feet tall Zones: 2-9 33 Colorful Groundcover Plants for a Low-Maintenance Garden 10 of 19 Oleander Chipper R. Hatter You can always count on oleander to put on a show with abundant, fragrant flowers from summer to fall. This sub-tropical shrub thrives with little care in California and the Deep South. It tolerates drought, heat, wind, and air pollution. Its narrow, leathery leaves form a deep green backdrop for its pink, peach, white, or red blooms. Warning All parts of the plant are toxic, so avoid planting it in areas used by pets and small children. Name: Nerium selections Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 8 feet tall Zones: 8-10 11 of 19 'Golden Ticket' Privet Dean Schoeppner While privet has a reputation for getting out of control, 'Golden Ticket' is a newer non-aggressive variety that works for hedges. Its glossy foliage emerges bright yellow in spring and ages to chartreuse. Clusters of fragrant, white flowers appear in summer. Without shearing, this deer-resistant, deciduous shrub develops an attractive vase shape, but feel free to give it a heavy pruning if you want a formal hedge. Name: Ligustrum x vicaryi Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 6 feet tall Zones: 5-8 12 of 19 Variegated False Holly Denny Schrock The spiny, evergreen foliage of variegated false holly resembles holly upon first glance, but if you look closer, you'll notice its gold-variegated green foliage and soft spines. In mid fall, fragrant white flowers bloom along its branches. This low-maintenance hedge plant grows slowly and can be sheared into a tidy wall of green in late winter. Name: Osmanthus selections Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 10 feet tall Zones: 7-9 13 of 19 Japanese Pittosporum Edward Gohlich A popular evergreen shrub in the South, Japanese pittosporum has dense, compact foliage that makes it suitable for privacy screens or informal hedges. It can be closely sheared to create formal hedges or topiary shapes. In spring, it bears white flowers with the scent of orange blossoms. Name: Pittosporum selections Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 15 feet tall Zones: 7-11 How to Make a Spiral Shrub to Glam up Your Garden 14 of 19 Korean Lilac Jerry Pavia One of the easiest lilacs to grow is Korean lilac. Also known as Meyer lilac, fragrant purple flowers cover this deciduous shrub in May. It's one of the few lilacs that remains under 10 feet tall and resists powdery mildew, a common plant disease. This shrub blooms on last year's stems, so prune it immediately after it flowers to ensure a good floral hedge plant the following year. Name: Syringa meyeri Growing Conditions: Full sun in dry to medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 8 feet tall Zones: 3-7 10 Eye-Catching Lilac Varieties That Will Perfume Your Garden 15 of 19 Scarlet Firethorn Denny Schrock An evergreen in mild climates but deciduous in colder regions, scarlet firethorn has stiff, thorny branches that adapt well to being trained as an espalier or informal hedging plant. It features cheery white flowers in spring and orange-red berries in summer. Name: Pyracantha selections Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in dry to medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 18 feet tall Zones: 6-9 16 of 19 Hybrid Yew Jay Wilde Known for its upright growth, hybrid yews have both the ornamental excellence of English yews and the winter hardiness of Japanese yews. These versatile evergreen shrubs make excellent hedge plants since they have few pest and disease problems as long as they have good soil drainage. They also don't mind regular shearing, making them popular for formal hedges and topiary. However, protection from deer may be necessary, especially in winter. Name: Taxus selections Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 20 feet tall Zones: 4-7 17 of 19 Arrowwood Viburnum Denny Schrock A multi-stemmed deciduous shrub, arrowwood viburnum bears creamy-white flowers in spring, blue fruits in late summer, and lovely yellow, red, or reddish-purple foliage in fall. 'Blue Muffin' arrowwood viburnum (shown here) is a compact variety that matures to 5 feet tall. Name: Viburnum dentatum Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 10 feet tall Zones: 2-8 18 of 19 Spirea Peter Krumhardt Fine-textured foliage and white or pink spring flowers are two traits that characterize spirea. These deciduous shrubs also grow densely, making them excellent privacy hedge plants. Bridal wreath spirea, an old-fashioned variety with cascading branches covered in frothy white blooms, has been a landscaping favorite for decades. Name: Spiraea varieties Growing Conditions: Full sun in medium moist, well-drained soil Size: Up to 8 feet tall Zones: 3-8 21 Best Types of Evergreen Shrubs to Grow for Year-Round Color 19 of 19 Shrub Rose Costas Picadas and Dlux One of the easiest types of roses to grow is the shrub rose. These tough hedge plants combine many of the best attributes of other roses. For example, shrub roses are often strongly disease-resistant and some of the easiest roses to prune. But even if you don't trim these beauties every year, they'll still bloom like crazy. Name: Rosa varieties Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in medium moist, slightly acidic, well-drained soil Size: Up to 10 feet tall Zones: 5-9 More Ways to Add Privacy Outdoors Patio Privacy Ideas to Help You Create a Relaxing Outdoor Oasis The 12 Best Outdoor Curtains for Added Privacy, Shade, and Style Garden Privacy Ideas That Incorporate Landscaping and Hardscaping Why You Should Create an Outdoor Room: 6 Tips to Build Your Own 8 Privacy Fence Ideas for Yards of All Sizes Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit